Some layout and a birthday banner

I am trying to get the right balance between design and content in a layout. While I want to make things that are pleasing to the eye, what matters most is the content - the photos and the story. With that in mind, I am making an effort to add more journaling to my layouts. Or at least most of them. There's no harm in a fluffy, cute layout every now and them. Like having a calorie-full, vitamin-poor treat after a nourishing meal.

* Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (blue dots), My Mind's Eye (red and pink; red and white), Echo Park (yellow),  Pink Paislee (blue floral)

* Buttons: Crate Paper

* Fonts: Bebas Neue (title), Century Gothic (journaling)

* Tool: Silhouette Cameo

* Triangles shape: my own

This one is to be the cover page for 2011 project 12 (layout a month). The previous years' one was a labour of love, but 2011's is a quickie...

* Patterned Paper: Basic Grey

* Font: Bebas Neue
* Tool: Silhouette Cameo

 Inspired by this cool magazine illustration:

Source: houseind.com via Elisa on Pinterest

Two things I am using a lot: the Silhouette Cameo and the font Bebas Neue. Here's a birthday banner for my son, also using both of them:

*Fonts: Bebas Neue, Console Relay

*Tool: Silhouette Cameo

*Other: Cardstock, eyelets, twine

Not every exciting, but there are two things that might interest you if you have a Silhouette or Craft Robot. Notice the Happy Birthday on the first flag? If I had cut only the letters, I'd have to glue them one by one trying to keep everything aligned. I added a line above and below the letters, just touching them so the whole thing is in one piece. Very clever idea from Patricia Zapata - she has a freebie on her blog with the idea, but the format was not compatible with the Cameo so I made my own.

The other one is the Console Relay font - an interesting font and bit unusual.